OK, this goes on from the "So who are THE greatest obscure heavies?" thread. I suggested we'd have a vote and make a list of the best, and here it is!

The rules:1. Make a list of the obscure heavy/fuzz-drenched/hard rocking albums you think are the best.2. Range the entries 1, 2, 3 and so on3. The album flopped when it was first released (or maybe it wasn't released but has been released later)4. The time period must be something like 1967-1976 (OK?)5. The first album on your list gets 10 points, the second gets 9 and so on. If you list more than ten albums, all those albums number ten and lower will get one point (it pays to list lots of albums, you give tips for what to be looking for to others)

This sound OK?

==========================================

The Red Max ( Regular Member )1,541 posts since 11/24/2000 Posted on 10/30/2002 at 11:49:00 AM

OK, but I just escaped from hospital, and they warned me not to sign any legal documents for 48 hours. I reckon this is just as serious, so...

budgie doesen´t count IMO they have like a dozen albums and they had fans around the worldalso i´d exclude like the pink fairies, groundhogs, steamhammer, captain beyond, bloodrock and so on...may blitz and master´s apprentecies are discussable as well (may blitz sold not too bad and had an underground disco hit with "for madmen only" the masters were huge in autralia and had some reputation in europe as well)so replace them with numbers 11 and 12 on my list if you like

knuthullu´s manual says it all i think

and yeahthe attack were excellent and surley the heaviest mods ever but i´d also exclude bands like them coz then i´d have to add like dozens of garage psych bands

Well, my guidelines for what to include and what to exclude are not all that clear. I meant it to be up to every one here what qualifies for inclusion.

If you had a list on the "So who are THE greatest obscure heavies?" thread, would you mind reposting on this thread so I can include it in the votes? I have done so myself (and added a few additions) below.

Hmm, I think the vocals is the strongest point on the Granicus album, and they are quite good on the Incredible Hog album too. Guess I have high tolerance for different kinds of singing. Remember the Dirty Tricks album Max? :-)

Hey Max, make the list longer if you like, I said Ill give 1 point for every entry as number 10 or below, so you could list a thousand albums (but please dont, cause it'll be hell to compile the list).

how does the From Rats to Riches album by the Good Rats differ from the Tasty album? Or their first? The only two I have by them.

...sorry for the long-wait post brothers - ok,Ya Baby Woodrose - I was turned onto these freaked-out dosing heads from a brother cat of mine out in the 'burbs who does nothing all day but smoke gange, take acid, drink & collect vinly obscure notable's ('68-'74 only - y'know)...no shit - apparently 7000+ albums and growing!?!?...basically a complete 'pyschonaut'...my kinda brother.

...anyway - the Yesterdays Children although quite rare (only album) just blows my mind - imagine over the top fuzz, w/HEAVY psych elements, good hooky tunage (believe it!) and a fuckin' vocalist that just slays!...a cross between a whiskey-soaked Bon Scott with an intuitive song-verse edge like Peter French (Leafhound era).

mmmm...sounds good no?

...but y'know, sometimes you think shit is the SHIT!...and your bro's are luke-warm about it...it's all taste but for me this absolutely SLAYS and they DOSE (you can feel it) like nothing!....oh - and as a bonus...the cover is a R.Crumb original, dipicting the long-haired acid freaks in the band being strolled around town in a baby carriage..and yes - they are the BABY's w/one big-ass ugly hairy looking momma! DIG!

Ok - to ummm...to the list, here's a few 'obscurities' I find righteous, on;y because I ALWAYS end up putting these fuckers on!!!!

...right - ya the:

CWT - the hundredweight - forgot how much I like this crazy righteous fuzz-rock w/horns!?

Human Instinct - Stoned Guitar...yup!

Tin House - grows on yer ass big time!

ok now -

Muddy Waters - Electric Mud - I know, he's popular & blues - but I picked this up the other day and it fucking smokes!!! - so raw sooooo fuckin' FUZZYYYYYY - I can't get it off the table!

Here are the results of the voting. There were few people voting and the idiots (myself included) didn't seem to agree on much, so to top the list it would be enough to get two top placings and a mention! Anyway, we managed to name almost a 100 albums and here they are:

I really appreciate everyone listing these albums--I happened to find the first Captain Beyond album on cd at a used cd shop this week and it's fucking amazing!!

I also sent copies of these lists to a friend of mine who's worked at a record store for years to see how many he was aware of--out of all of the ones that he was familiar with, he said his fave was the Leigh Stephens-'Red Weather' album. Does anyone here care to give their opinion on that album? Thanks.

-Ryan

==========================================

The Red Max ( Regular Member )1,539 posts since 11/24/2000 Posted on 11/22/2002 at 2:10:00 AM

Leigh Stephens was the guitarist in the original Blue Cheer. Red Weather is like a natural extension of Outside/Inside. The piano and guitarplaying being very similar (naturally!) - the sound is less fucked up, the songs are equally great but might be a bit more ordinary. Sure is obscure though - try it out. Great cover too.

I like it a lot better than the New! Improved! Blue Cheer, except for the couple of Randy Holden tracks of course.

probably this are not the best, some even are not obscure... i've tried to put groups not quoted yet. but all of them are really great and deserve to figure here.i know StonerRock.com for about 3 years and i must say i feel very proud to be a new member of this great comunity.anyway, i got a question:De Fortabte Spillemænd - Imens dagene er dystreNever hear about this group.Search for it and only find a book with this tittle. Anyone can tell me where I can find some info about this froup?

Great list. Envy you the Tarkus and Warlord albums. One day Ill find them though. Reason why the Cactus album was not mentioned was probably because it didnt fit the guidelines I put up for the voting here.

One problem: this thread was meant to be a vote for the VERY BEST obscure heavy albums. Please look at the first message in the thread and give me a list, OK? :-)

==========================================

Throatwobbler Mangrove ( Regular Member )

Is that Warlord the same as has been released on Audio Archives? Is it as heavy as they make it sound?

Bloody Mary has nothing to do with Sir Lord Baltimore- this is the word I heard from the great John Garner himself!!! there's some other crazy singer out there that sounds a lot like him. Tom Jones maybe??

Hey, Dr. Brown, it was a surprise to know Bloody Mary wasn't related to SLB. Is this information available in any official source? The singer really looks a lot like him.And sorry for my ignorance - or maybe refresh my memory - who the hell is Tom Jones?

Of course it's expensive to get all this stuff, but a lot of what I have, I have bought as reissues at a low price. Ive also traded some stuff as CD-Rs. I AM also always broke.

And consider that most of those who have posted votes here do NOT have all the ones voted for. I have a pretty good collection, but some people here have made lists where I have heard less than half of the stuff.

Hey Max, that CD-R you sent me HAD bad sound quality, but it is not the one of which I was talking. So there.

yeah i agree to all of you! this is maybe the greatest thread i've ever read. I have learned about so meny bands...

and as knuthulhu writes, meny of these titles can be found as re-issues for a very fair price.but yeah, SoulSeek is a very nice tool, when you're broke, or just want to check some new music out. i use it alot myself!

-jemez-

==========================================

The Red Max ( Regular Member )1,539 posts since 11/24/2000 Posted on 5/25/2003 at 10:31:00 AM

Johnny Dark: Never mind mentioning something new, we just vote for the top albums which match the des c r i p tions I made. The list looks interesting, and we have managed 152 different albums without thinking of naming something noone else has mentioned.

Dirt: That Blackfeather album is truly something. It varies a bit, but most of it is a thrill to listen to.

This is a great thread. I am gonna check out as many of these albums as I can. For some reason I can't remember I decided to go with Bolder Damn first, and it is really fantastic stuff. On to Leaf Hound next.

Cmon!!! VOTE!!!, don't be a wussy. There are better records than the ones in the current tally of top 25, or so. I automatically nominate Scorpions LONESOME CROW into the the top 5, do I hear any "neys"? First Brain release, c'mon!!! Supposedly , there is another Lonesome Crow era compilation out there... "SPIDER" something, also on Brain I understand, anybody know? A real SCORP fanatic would know... Also, we need more early DOOOOM bands in this picture, BODKIN (greatest record cover ever, folds out into burning goatshead crucifix, fucking pounder!!!!), ZIOR, HORSE, MONUMENT, BRAM STOKER, c'mon vote, it's the only way to rid ourselves of the W ...

==========================================

The Red Max ( Regular Member )1,539 posts since 11/24/2000 Posted on 9/12/2003 at 2:22:00 AM

i'm not sure if we have the same Dragonfly band, because i looked up info and there seems to be several bands with this title from the 60's-70's. it could be the same and be poo to you? best way i can discribe it is as a cross between (Lemmy's 60's band)?? and maybe Elias Hulk... dunno i don't have titles so thats no help. but i dig it. TC==========================================

Ursa Major ( Regular Member )10 posts since 7/19/2003 Posted on 3/6/2004 at 2:01:41 PM

Heres one -

Dirk Steffens - S/T

I have most of these albums listed on Cd prob 80% and willing to trade but I am a bit unorganised at the moment.....==========================================

...or something like that from what i've heard so far. Rating 1-10 is very difficult cuz they are all so singular and killer. Muchisimas gracias y respecto to all the tradin' amigos out there.==========================================

Well you have to excuse me knut...but i can't rank the No.1, 2, 3 and so on...it pretty much dependes on what mood i'm in, so i will just put a whole bunch of goodies in here. It's ok by me if you just give them 1 point each...the important thing is that they all get a vote :-)

I really like that Fraction album and as far as independent label U.S. releases from the 70s I think it's probably in the top ten. I think a lot of people around here are probably looking for more guitar heroics or sabbath inspiration though. Then again, I don't like most of the current crop of stoner hard rock band anyhow, so don't mind me.==========================================

Well i can only second what you heard about Cargo...and maybe it shoulden't even be listed as a "heavy" output. But it's just so damned good i coulden't resist to have it in my "top 75" or how many it now is. Excellent twinguitar duels by the 2 brothers Jan and Ad de Hont.

I'll quote what it say about them in Scented Gardens of the Mind)

"They started out under the name September and released three singles on Imperial in 1970 and 1971, then changed their name into Cargo in 1972. Their album is a true classic of melodic heavy progressive rock with some of the best twin electric guitar interplay i've ever heard. They beat Wishbone Ash by miles! Tracks such as Sail Inside (10:54) may seem like cliched motorcycle rock on the first listening, only to reveal myriads of nuances behind the raw edges later on. The powerful guitar-driven music also has a more vulnerable side, alternating between aggression and a hidden sorrow. Summerfair (15:35) is another winner full of emotion and dynamics. Strongly recommended to all fans of intelligent guitar-rock. The cover motif was a reference to the first by The Outsiders"

Rock On...==========================================

MonsterRecords ( Regular Member )

I suppose that about sums up the Cargo record. The twin guitar play is fantastic, but I really like the vocals as well. I've listened to this record a ton of times and I never tire of it.==========================================

The Red Max ( Regular Member )1,539 posts since 11/24/2000 Posted on 5/24/2004 at 5:36:20 AM

I think my illness is almost over. Last year I'd have been poring over these lists, determined to get hold of all those bands I didn't already know about

Now I just don't care! Tra-la-la!! "My name is redmax, and I am an obscuro-holic. It's been 30 days since my last grail"==========================================

Hey all...I registered here a couple years ago and have been inactive for a LONG time, but I've decided to post again. For the record, this is an amazing thread, probably the best I've ever seen here. If anyone's up for it, how bout one last tally?==========================================

I'm in the process of making one now, but I lost all the numbers I had from previous votes so I had to start all over. I'm away for work this week, so it probably won't be ready until next week. It will be here though.==========================================

Y'know, I just read through this entire thread and wanted to respond regarding Bloody Mary from a few months ago. I think Knut asked about John Bradley being listed as engineer? John Bradley was a staff engineer at Ultra-Sonic studios in Hempstead Long Island, not John Garner. Were you confused. I asked Garner straight up about Bloody Mary and even played it for him over the phone once and he said no way is it him. Sooo...==========================================

This was supposed to be a "vote for the BEST albums you know of this kind" not a "mention everything you can that falls in somewhere in this cathegory or near it"! I can read Borderline books or their like for that.

this thread is great. I'm kind of a late-comer here, and I just skimmed thru the first couple pages. After collecting LPs for around 30 years, I thought I knew just about all the hard/heavy obscure 70's stuff. There's some stuff here I'm not familiar with. I've got all the major stuff mentioned in this thread - Bang, sir lord B, dust, leaf hound, highway robbery, gun, hard stuff, blah blah. Guess I'll have to look into the groups mentioned that I don't know... such as Buffalo & Flower Travellin'

Therefore, I'm gonna post my list, though it is quite similar to the current top 20, and update the current one (I hope this doesnt offend knuthulu, if he's still around), for I feel it should always be readily available to those who wish to educate themselves

Troyvod: your comment on Buffalo vs. Grand Funk when it comes to level of obscurity: I take it you're Australian, right? In Australia, Buffalo albums are probably pretty much standard stuff, but in the US or Europe, they are far less well known. Illustrates the problem with "obscurity" (which we've discussed before here, re: BANG and chart placings). This is the reason why I do not censor ANY lists here for being "not obscure enough". The only lists I have chosen not too count are those with headings like "I don't think anyone has mentioned these before", since those seem to have missed the point of the thread.

It takes a lot to shake the top of this list these days, but there are several albums on 20 points, so changes could easily take part in the lower reaches. I wonder if this chart has any bearings on what sells and what doesn't? ;-)

Speaking of that first Warhorse album...it's really a blazing record. However, I've got two qualms with it: the guitars just aren't up front enough in the mix, and that damn St. Louis cover...I just can't deal with it. And dammit, am I the ONLY person who even mentioned Bakerloo?

Last edited by r0b0c0p on Tue Dec 07, 2010 8:43 am, edited 2 times in total.

ROFL at Bouw. Mate, is there any place in the world where you do not have intimate knowledge of the "used records" stores? Excellent list of record shops, I'm copying that to keep in case I will ever be going to Australia.

vitamarc: is that a list from number 1-10? If so, I'll make a new list on monday.

I only know Oslo really, though I found a little but good shop in Arvika Sweden last week. If you're ever going to Oslo, I'll certainly help you with the good shops there. I was in Oslo yesterday for a record fair, but that one is shrinking in size and is not as good as it used to be.

geez i don't even know most of those stores.There is a sydney recotrd fair twice a year too though.Melbounre and Sydney have generally got very overpriced, but check out Revolve records in Erskineville, Sydney. Heaps of rare heavy/psych.Unfortunately prices probably will scare you. The guy on top of the Rock Shop in Newcatsle is great though. Luckily the missus has family there so i stop in everytime.Most of this stuff wasn't pressed in Australia and the records that were, usually only 500-1000. Buffalo you'll find everywhere and pay about 50-60 aussie dollars.Pm me when your on your way. should be able to help you out more.Possibly hook up for some gigs

The recordfair in Sydney I visited was on PARAMATTA ROAD.I can not recommend that one if you are looking for the more obscure records.if you are looking for re-issue's try the basement recordshop just 30 meters from the corner on KINGSTREET near the RED EYE recordshop

I agree, one of the best threads ever.Anway, thanks to everybody for the cool Aussie recordstores, I found some good stuff. Btw, I was also in Jakarta, Indonesia, and man, I found some real good collectable records (Jeronimo, Hard Stuff, Tiger b. Smith, Fat Water, Apple Pie, Blue Cheer, Help, etc) and dirt cheap as well. All of them were in perfect (new) condition due to the fact they had plastic sleeves around them. But this was the weirdest recordplace I've ever been to (and I've been in recordstores on all continents except Africa). It was like 30 degrees celcius inside and the owner didnt care about the records at all. Dust was everywhere (and I don't mean the band) and a lot of the records without sleeves were eaten by little white worms who were crawling between the LPs. It was an awful, disgusting sight, esp. cuz some of those records were higly collectables, half eaten by these worms..my stomach still hurts thinking about it!!

Sure, if you are talking about the Ohio group who made the "Hell's Fire" album in 1980. Tons of loud heavy metallic fuzzed guitars and also a personal fave of mine. For some reason, the band hasn't been interested in doing an official CD reissue, but I have seen some bootlegs/cd-r's floating around.

Hey monsterrecords yeah, I mean Mistreater-Hells Fire. This guy I know also has a recordlabel and also asked them, he visited the Mistreated singer in Ohio several times, and they even became friends BUT the singer still doesn't want Mistreated to be released on CD..it's a very strange story..which musician doesn't want to be heard by a bigger audience? And the music is fucking awesome, so...Hey Monsterrecords, what about Iron Claw? Are you still gonna release something by them?

I thought Leafhound - Growers of Mushrooms was a cool band and album name but I always felt it was a pretty overated album. I'm suprised to see it being voted on so much. I've let it play and play but it doesn't seem to grow on me. Maybe I'll dig it out and give it a few more spins. (Actually the same goes for Josefus - Dead Man, for me, but it's all just a matter of opinion. Most of the rest of the stuff listed is pretty cool though).

OK, so there's a new list ready, but first a few numbers:- There have been votes for 386 different albums (plus one vote for "anything Pentagram produced in the 70s" which I wasn't sure how to interpret)- 170 albums have only one point

Album most voted for which is not on the top list:- Blackwater Park - Dirt Box (seven people voted for them and they still didn't make the list)

My predictions: When the Bedemon release from Black Widow has been out for some time, we'll see the votes getting out for that one. When Pentagram's First Daze Here Too comes out, that will be the one to vote for for the Ram's Heads among us.

This is the greatest thread ever. I've been really digging into the vaults recently and this thread has shown me a LOT of great albums. I just, mainly, wanted to add a repsonse to bump this thread so others can benefit too.

Captain Beyond -- Forget about it. Fucking awesome. How this band has gone so unnoticed is a crime.

Leaf Hound -- a little derivative. I hear a lot of Jeff Beck influence, but still a great album.

Buffalo -- Better than I anticipated. The guitar riffs are excellent.

I have been keeping a keen eye on Ebay for affordale copies of Sir Lord Baltimore or Randy Holden.

==========================================

monsterastronaut ( Regular Member )

This thread is fun indeed. Below my list. there are some bands i can not mention because i only know a couple of tracks of it or sometimes never heard the record. That's a problem with obscure records ain't it.

I forgot some, and they are not all at their right place i think but that's damn difficult. I also haven't included albums by Atomic Rooster, Cactus, Collosseum ...Truth and Janey have very good albums i think but i don't know them to well at the moment. Same with albums of Orang utan, Bang, bloodrock, Gun, Jerusalem, may blitz, and so many others sometimes mentioned in lists above.==========================================

That Black Widow isn't really heavy, is it? More of a laid back prog album. Nice to see that people still find some use of this thread though. I'm very aware that people would change their lists if they could. I dare not even look at my own list from five years back.

I see there is one more list of votes here. I'll add that to the ones I have already, but all the data are at my work computer ;-) so it'll have to wait until I'm back at work on tuesday.

Yeah i do agree that Black Widow isnt very heavy but I heard at shows they had staged black masses, sacrifices, etc.

Does anybody know of any Pentagram cd's besides First Daze Here and the 2nd

==========================================

Throatwobbler Mangrove ( Regular Member )

Pentagram have a pretty big discography, with lots of different lineups, and lots of bootlegs. I did write a Pentagram Buyer's Guide for this site about 6 months ago, but don't know if it will ever be posted....Arz?

Short version: if you like the 70s Pentagram, get Bedemon's Child of Darkness. It's a Pentagram offshoot from the mid 70s, featuring Liebling, Palmer, O'Keefe. Awesome (but rough sound).

Then, get Relentless, one of the best doom albums, ever. If you're hooked, you'll end up getting the rest.URL: http://www.bedemon.com

D-Scoop - What do you mean "master list"? Do you want the complete shit? I can get it done over the weekend.

Bonzo - You're in the wrong thread for that kind of thing - this is about 60s and 70s recordings, but you can safely buy any Saint Vitus and then all the rest (the quality varies but all are more than worth it). Much the same goes for the wizard, but maybe you should buy the early albums first.

I've not wanted to censor anything here, and have largely let everybody vote for whatever they think fits the des c r i p tion, even when it's quite obvious they didn't read the outlines I made in the first post. The only thing taken out was Bang's first album because Red Max pointed out that it was a Billboard 200 hit, and that was only for my own list. I've allowed that for everyone else.

That Chrissy Zebby Tembo album from Zambia is pretty iffy, but I love that "Fisherman" song. All fuzzed out, and he's just playing his little Zambian heart out.==========================================

Also, is this thread still about greatest heavy albums? I'm finding a lot of great obscure heavy songs that belong to mediocre albums...(there's a thread about that already, too).==========================================

I'm suprised groundhogs-split never made the top 25 of the list and is barely mentioned in here

==========================================

willb ( Community Supporter )1,243 posts since 1/3/2007 Posted on 5/28/2010 at 6:16:20 PM In response to: this post by jipToo good of a thread to be hidden away.

==========================================

r0b0c0p ( Community Supporter )1,285 posts since 9/3/2001 Posted on 6/2/2010 at 5:39:53 PM In response to: this post by doom houndThanks for that doom hound! Prodigal Sons is great, just found on Soulseek

Hard to argue with the top of that list. I've got around a third of 'em on official CD's now. I'd rate a few as "over-rated" myself, esp. the closer you get to the bottom of the list. But hey, you can't dig everything.

libertycaps ( Regular Member )25,606 posts since 5/8/2000 Posted on 11/5/2010 at 1:17:01 PM In response to: this post by The Red MaxCool. A Red Max sighting. Thanks again for those uber-rare cdr burns, man.

I think the reason there's no Amon Düül II in the list is the same as for the Groundhogs: Actual chart action. Gonna post my top 20 that i now have official(semi-official) CD copies of soonish.==========================================

willb ( Community Supporter )1,342 posts since 1/3/2007 Posted on 11/21/2010 at 7:30:34 PM In response to: this post by libertycaps.==========================================

Coloured Balls - Ball Power (1973). Fairly big in Australia, (particularly in Melbourne). Way head of their time. This is a medley of some of their songs with footage of sharpies, a sort of pre-punk, gang culture that existed in Australia in the early to mid 70s.